Hydrant Works With Water From New System

During a brush fire on March 26th, YCFD5 Captain Pete Stewart’s dream for the last seven years became a reality when he was the first to turn on a hydrant supplied by a new water system during an emergency. It took a lot of work for Pete and several others involved, but he now knows that their community is a safer place because of this project.

In the 21st century, you might find it hard to believe that a community in our area can go without clean drinking water, but for the community in Parker this has been the case until just recently.

Seven years ago, people gathered together in Parker with the goal of establishing a community water system.

When you want to see change happen, you can’t just wait for things to happen and for Captain Stewart, he realized this. He dreamed of a day where clean drinking water supplied his entire community.

As a firefighter, Pete also dreamed of a day when fire hydrants lined the streets in the event of a major fire. For years firefighters have been forced to truck water into Parker from either Wapato or Union Gap. Having an adequate water supply can often be the difference between saving someone’s life/property or not.

We’d like to thank the community of Parker, the Yakima Nation, and Yakima County for their efforts in making this dream a reality. The safety and health of this small community has been greatly improved because of your cooperative efforts.